Najib's nonsensical response to grand gesture

 

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak has failed and fumbled again.

He should have expressed his heartfelt and humble gratitude to the former Agong for the substantial reduction in his sentence - his prison time was halved and his fine slashed from RM210 million to RM50 million.

That would have been the acceptable, courteous and civilised approach in our society - where polite, proper decorum and protocol are observed in a constitutional monarchy.

Najib should have also expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for the latter’s indulgence in facilitating the whole pardon exercise, which was somewhat premature, risky and rushed.

Instead, Najib went into a frenzy, expressing his disappointment and ratcheting up a ruckus in his effort to obtain a premature pardon.

Najib’s actions have further divided the country between various groups, including a well-informed intellectual, educated and responsible group, as well as various components of the silent majority.

The convicted former prime minister also speaks of “haters”. No sane person would hate Najib. However, no one can believe his foolish cluelessness and naivety in accepting the RM42 million and flaunting it like his own hard-earned money.

Najib’s pursuit of a pardon so soon after the recent decision of the Pardons Board suggests he views the country’s investigation, prosecution and judicial apparatus as completely flawed.

There was clearly much restraint and respect shown to Najib throughout the entire process from the time he was first charged.

Najib has to bear in mind that SRC International took an RM4 billion loan from the Retirement Fund (Incorporated) (KWAP), a retirement fund which manages the pension scheme for our civil servants.

Yet, until now, it has not been shown whether that loan was put to some responsible use.

It is lamentable that Najib has now resorted to using Umno – the grand old party which had illustrious leaders like Onn Jaafar and Tunku Abdul Rahman – to push for a full pardon.

This is most unfortunate. It seems to be an attempt to replace the rule of law with the rule of raw mob rule. It has to fail.

Najib should learn to place the nation’s overarching interests above his pathetic personal interest. - Mkini

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M SANTHANANABAN is a former ambassador with 45 years of public sector experience. This article was first published in Aliran.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.